Political commentary from the LA Times

Does House healthcare bill end abortion coverage?

As the healthcare vote on Saturday night demonstrated, she knew just how many votes she had to turn to win the bill. And she did it by allowing lawmakers from swing-state districts -- many with strong Catholic constituencies -- to first vote against insurance funding for abortion.

Now, as the bill moves to the Senate, pro-abortion groups are mobilizing for a fight.

"It is unconscionable that anti-choice lawmakers would use health reform to attack women's health and privacy, but that's exactly what happened on the House floor," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "The fight is not over. ... We will continue to mobilize our activists and work with our allies in Congress to remove this dangerous provision from the healthcare bill and stop additional attacks as the process moves to the Senate."

New York Democrat Anthony Weiner said this morning that the House bill, in effect, leaves women without protection. Even if someone wants to purchase her own policy that covers abortion, he said, she might have trouble finding an insurance company to offer it. Take a listen.